1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reel unit for a rotatable reel of a gaming machine, and more specifically to a reel belt for use in a reel unit of a reel illuminated by a backlight, and a gaming machine provided with the reel unit.
2. Background of the Related Art
Conventionally, a gaming machine has employed a video reel and a mechanical reel in order to display symbols. A video reel is achieved by scrolling a symbol image to display it on a display device such as a liquid crystal display device. The video reel is displayed on the display device, and the luminance of the display device determines visibility of the symbol. In the display device, brightness of a light source such as the luminance on a display screen is previously adjusted to become approximately constant.
A mechanical reel achieves a scroll display of a symbol by mechanically rotating a reel on which the symbol is printed by means of a motor and the like. In the case of the mechanical reel, it is necessary to provide a backlight inside the reel in order to enable a player to visually identify the symbol. Light emitted from the backlight is irradiated on the back of the reel to illuminate the symbol brightly (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-62152 and United State Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0276975).